livingston
20×102mm Vulcan
Colorado’s growing political divide leaves rural communities feeling forgotten and voiceless
A political transformation in Colorado is exacerbating the tension in elections and at the Capitol
“We are a minority out here (compared with) urban areas,” he says, “so it gets to be a little bit of a challenge, I guess you could say, when it comes down to politics.”
Democratic divide
The political balkanization in Colorado is as bright as the red line on the map that marks the Continental Divide, except in this case, it’s a band of blue.
A column of Democratic territory — stretching from north of the Denver metro area west through the liberal mountain resort towns, southwest to like-minded Durango and southeast to Latino-rich Alamosa — carves the state roughly in half in recent presidential elections.
In red-blue abstract, the 2016 vote looks like a Democrat holding a paintball gun aimed eastward while being surrounded by Republicans from the Western Slope and Eastern Plains.
Four decades ago, it looked much different. From 1968 to 2008, Colorado voted for only one Democratic candidate for president, Bill Clinton in 1992. But since Barack Obama’s victory in 2008, when Democrats held their national convention in Denver, the state morphed to blue.
Click to enlarge
The political transformation was accelerated by an influx of younger and more educated transplants to the Front Range who lean Democratic, adding to the tension with natives in rural areas.
More than half of the state’s registered voters now live in just five of 64 counties — Denver, El Paso, Jefferson, Arapahoe and Adams. And Democrats beat Republicans in terms of voter registration in all of those but El Paso County, home to Colorado Springs.
More at
Colorado’s growing political divide leaves rural communities feeling forgotten and voiceless – The Denver Post
Flee NY State .... To Colorado ... Hmmm. We can run but not hide.... Sounds just like NY State ... Rural areas left spitting into the wind ...
A political transformation in Colorado is exacerbating the tension in elections and at the Capitol
“We are a minority out here (compared with) urban areas,” he says, “so it gets to be a little bit of a challenge, I guess you could say, when it comes down to politics.”
Democratic divide
The political balkanization in Colorado is as bright as the red line on the map that marks the Continental Divide, except in this case, it’s a band of blue.
A column of Democratic territory — stretching from north of the Denver metro area west through the liberal mountain resort towns, southwest to like-minded Durango and southeast to Latino-rich Alamosa — carves the state roughly in half in recent presidential elections.
In red-blue abstract, the 2016 vote looks like a Democrat holding a paintball gun aimed eastward while being surrounded by Republicans from the Western Slope and Eastern Plains.
Four decades ago, it looked much different. From 1968 to 2008, Colorado voted for only one Democratic candidate for president, Bill Clinton in 1992. But since Barack Obama’s victory in 2008, when Democrats held their national convention in Denver, the state morphed to blue.
Click to enlarge
The political transformation was accelerated by an influx of younger and more educated transplants to the Front Range who lean Democratic, adding to the tension with natives in rural areas.
More than half of the state’s registered voters now live in just five of 64 counties — Denver, El Paso, Jefferson, Arapahoe and Adams. And Democrats beat Republicans in terms of voter registration in all of those but El Paso County, home to Colorado Springs.
More at
Colorado’s growing political divide leaves rural communities feeling forgotten and voiceless – The Denver Post
Flee NY State .... To Colorado ... Hmmm. We can run but not hide.... Sounds just like NY State ... Rural areas left spitting into the wind ...
